Research Guides: Law and Psychology (LAW 477): Citations/Citing

SAL Style Guides

The SMU School of Law requires students to use the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) Style Guide.

Legal Abbreviations

Use the following resources to find appropriate abbreviations for journals when creating your SAL citations.

Cardiff Index to Legal Citations
Abbreviations of Legal Publications (Monash University Library)
Blue Book Abbreviations for Law Review Titles (M.G. Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington School of Law)

Academic Writing & Citing

When writing for academic assignments or projects, you must provide a citation and reference for any information that is not your original work. This includes paraphrasing someone else's ideas, as well as direct quotations. You need to cite your sources for a variety of reasons:

To give credit to the original author (avoiding plagiarism)
To allow your reader to refer back to the works you cited
To show your reader you've done the proper research by listing the literature you used when conducting your research

Proper citations usually include two parts:

In-text citations or footnotes: indicate when you are referencing a source and whom you are referencing
Bibliography/reference list: a detailed list of the sources used so that your reader can locate them if needed (These reference may be included in your footnotes, as opposed to be listed separately.)

APA (American Psychological Association) is the most common style used at SMU. Although you will be using SAL style for this assignment, you will need to recognize and interpret APA style. Use our APA Style Research Guide to learn about citing different types of resources.

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Comparing APA and SAL styles

JOURNAL ARTICLE (APA followed by SAL):

Mackay, T. L., & Paterson, H. M. (2015). How does timing of recall affect eyewitness memory and psychological distress?. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 30(4), 242-253.

Thomas L. Mackay & H.M. Paterson, “How does timing of recall affect eyewitness memory and psychological distress?” Journal of police and criminal psychology 2015; 30(4): 242-253 at 248

BOOK (APA followed by SAL):

Reisberg, D., & Hertel, P. (2004). Memory and Emotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Daniel Reisberg & Paula Hertel, Memory and Emotion (Series in Affective Science) (Cary: Oxford University Press, 2003) at p 129

BOOK CHAPTER (APA followed by SAL):

Canton, Rob. (2009). Troublesome Offenders, Undeserving Patients? The Precarious Rights of Mentally Disordered Offenders. In J. Winstone (Ed.), Mental health, crime and criminal justice: responses and reforms (pp. 28-47). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Canton, Rob. "Troublesome Offenders, Undeserving Patients? The Precarious Rights of Mentally Disordered Offenders" in Mental Health, Crime and Criminal Justice : responses and reforms (Jane Winstone ed) (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2009) ch 3 at p 28

WEBSITE (APA followed by SAL):

Wakabi, W. (2016, April 18). Expert Explains Variance in Memory Among Trauma Victims. Retrieved December 13, 2016, from https://www.ijmonitor.org/2016/04/expert-explains-variance-in-memory-among-trauma-victims/

Wairagala Wakabi, “Expert Explains Variance in Memory Among Trauma Victims” International Justice Monitor (18 April 2016) <https://www.ijmonitor.org/2016/04/expert-explains-variance-in-memory-among-trauma-victims/> (accessed 13 December 2016)